Freezer Breakfast Burritos

 

 I’m one of those people who needs a good hour or two in the morning to get good and hungry; I can’t just get up and eat, I instead need to warm up to the idea of breakfast. I’m also pretty fickle – what I eat one day isn’t necessarily what I want to eat the next day. Brandon is a cereal guy; when I’ve expressed my confusion about how he can eat the same thing all the time, he patiently explains that because he eats different kinds of cereals, he’s not, in fact, eating the same breakfast everyday. This logic makes no sense to me, but whatever.

 

So, all this being said, I’m frequently search of new breakfast foods, primarily ones that are healthy and portable, so that I can take them to work to eat once I’m actually hungry. I’ve been through dozens of breakfast iterations: yogurt with granola, overnight oats, hard boiled eggs, breakfast quesadillas, apples with cheese, apples with peanut butter, toast with cheese, toast with peanut butter… and on and on… forever attempting to infusing protein in with my hopefully-not-too-carby first meal o’ the day.

 

So with this understanding, please know that sometimes I’m running late, and sometimes I’m bored with my options. This is when I land with my own personal nuclear (and shameful) option: a (ham-less) egg mcmuffin (I have multiple issues with myself over this – both nutritional and political – but the McDonalds is across the street from my office and sometimes a desperate lady does what a desperate lady does). On my not-desperate-but-bored-with-my-options-at-home days, I take a 15-minute walk to Starbucks for an overpriced egg white, spinach and feta breakfast wrap. One day, while eating said wrap, I had an epiphany – “Hey!! I can make these myself!! I can make a whole batch, keep them in the freezer, and eat them whenever I’m in the mood or in a hurry!”  And, just like that, the freezerito was born!

 

What’s great is that these burritos are totally customizable – every time I’ve made a batch (I make about 10 at a time), I’ve used entirely different ingredients. It’s also a great way for get some veggies in alongside some whole grains and protein for breakfast. And because they’re frozen, I only have to eat them when that’s what I’m in the mood for. Brilliant!

 

 

 

Recipe is below, but this obviously more technique or general idea. For me, I think about making these as healthy, tasty, and filling as possible, but whatever you love for breakfast is exactly what should go in them.

 

The tortillas I buy come in packs to 10, so I make enough filling for about 10 burritos. A few shortcuts include using pre-chopped, frozen veggies (Trader Joe’s frozen kale is a favorite), canned tomatoes, and liquid egg whites.

 

 

   

   

 

 

Freezeritos

 

cooking spray

1 carton liquid egg whites (equivalent to about 10 eggs)

1 box Morningstar Farms sausage links, defrosted and sliced in 1/2” pieces

1 can of diced tomatoes, well drained

16 ounces frozen kale, thawed and very well drained (take small amounts and literally  squeeze out the excess water with my hands)

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained well

4 ounces of feta, crumbled

1 package tortillas (10-12 count)

salt and pepper, to taste

hot sauce

 

Coat a large skillet lightly with cooking spray, and heat pan over medium heat. Add egg whites and as the eggs start to cook, move the mixture across the pan with a spatula. Continue cooking (while resisting the urge to constantly stir the eggs) until almost no liquid remains. In the final few minutes of cooking, gently stir in the sliced “sausage” links and fully incorporate into the eggs. Once the eggs are fully cooked – just another minute or two – remove from the heat and cool (the cooling process is greatly sped up with the aid of the freezer – I put the mixture into a large bowl that I place into the freezer for about 10 minutes).

 

Once the egg and “sausage” mixture is cool, add the other ingredients – diced tomatoes, kale, black beans, and feta. Add salt and pepper to taste.

 

Moisten a kitchen towel and wrap around the stack of tortillas. Microwave for 30-60 seconds, until the tortillas are soft and pliant. Then, make yourself and assembly line: a stack 10-12 pieces of aluminum foil (depending on the number of tortillas you have), the tortillas (still wrapped in the towel), the egg filling, and your bottle of hot sauce (optional for some and a must-have for the rest of us!). Fill each tortilla with an full-but-not-so-full-so-you-can’t-fold-it amount of filling, then fold up your burrito, and fold the foil around it.* Repeat until all the tortillas are filled,** and place into the freezer (just to stay organized, I like put my stack of burritos in a ziplock bag to keep them together).

 

When you’re ready to eat, remove freezerito from foil and wrap in a moist paper towel. Microwave on high for 2-4 minutes (depending on the strength of your microwave), and enjoy!

 

 

* Don’t worry if some of filling spills out; I’ve had tortillas that have torn when they’ve folded, and when I later microwaved the frozen burrito, despite the tear, they held together well.

 

** If you have any leftover filling, refrigerate and enjoy for breakfast the next morning.

 

 

 

Posted on October 5, 2014
Posted in breakfast, healthy, quick and easy, vegetarian